With help from popular rapper LaRussell, Vallejo cafe offers pay-what-you-can menu
VALLEJO -- A cafe in Vallejo is letting people pay whatever they want for their meals. While that may seem like a recipe for disaster, the community is responding with a spirit of generosity.
There was a line of people outside Momo's Cafe all morning on Monday. The spot had just reopened after a two-week remodel and the deal seemed too good to be true: order whatever you want and pay whatever you want.
"Oh my God! This is wonderful!" said Shivia Marchon. As she dug into her breakfast, the Vallejo resident felt like she had died and gone to heaven.
"If I had to pay, this would be $25 -- the regular price," she said. "But I'm going to pay a dollar today. And give the waiter a good tip."
Manny Melendez co-owns the cafe. The reason he isn't going broke is because of his friendship with one of his favorite customers, a young guy named LaRussell Thomas.
"People were telling me, 'Hey do you know who that is?' And I'm, yeah, that's LaRussell. They're like, 'No, you need to have his picture up on the wall,'" said Manny.
He didn't know it at the time, but LaRussell, who uses his first name as a stage name, is a local, up-and-coming rapper.
The young artist is making a name for himself in the music business, but he also has a soft spot for his hometown and wanted to give something back. For the rest of the year, he offered to make up the difference if Manny would start letting people pay whatever they wanted.
"And then after that, I said, 'Bro! I'm your biggest fan, bro!'" said Manny, laughing.
LaRussell also paid to have the dining area remodeled, emblazoned with his performance brand name, "Good Compenny." And while it may seem like the customers could take advantage of the situation, something quite different has been happening there.
"He makes me want to be a better person. And if he's done that to me and touched me that way, I feel that he's going to touch the community," said diner Heri Frias. "And myself, I know what this food's going to cost--I'm going to pay extra, right? So somebody else can maybe...kind of balance it out."
"Well, to be honest, I came here twice. This is my second time here," said Dorrel Workmen. "So, the first time I gave them $5-$10. This time, I'm going to make it worth their while and give them $20. Because this is a wonderful thing about helping the community."
Even Shivia was reconsidering her $1 breakfast.
"I want to be fair," she said. "When I have some more money--because I don't have any money right now--I'll pay something different."
That's the funny thing about people. Expect the worst from them and you'll probably get it. But expect the best, and you just might be surprised.